Detention
by angelale8
Summary: Ginny goes back to Hogwarts for her sixth year and with the Trio gone she has to find a way to help the war while stuck at school. Her efforts often land her in detention where she finds herself bonding with Draco Malfoy. Together they reform the DA and cause mayhem for the new Headmaster and the Carrows while gathering information that will help the horcrux hunt.
1. Group Punishment

This story is part of a trilogy of sorts. I plan to make two more stories with two other of my favorite HP couples(Harry/Hermione and Ron/Pansy) about what happens during the horcrux hunt for each group and then merge them together on another story.

This part focuses on what goes on at Hogwarts between Ginny and Draco while Snape is Headmaster and the Carrow siblings terrorize the students.

* * *

It was five minutes to 8 o'clock and Ginny ran through the corridor on her way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to serve detention with the Carrows yet again. This was the third time this week and she was getting really tired of being punished for defending Harry and the Order. School had started three weeks ago and Ginny had already served 9 detentions with those horrible professors. Only Neville had served more than she having been in detention 12 times. He was more outspoken this year and defended the younger students from the Carrows, but these were sure ways to land him in detention.

In the past, detention was often thought of as a weak form of punishment by many students, unless of course, you had detention on the day of an important Quidditch match. However, now that Snape was Headmaster, he put the Carrow siblings, Amycus an Alecto, in charge of overseeing all detentions and those two had cruel ideas as to how detention should be served.

Ginny made it just on time and she noticed that Neville, Luna and many others of the older Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were there as well. This meant that today's punishment would be a group punishment. Group punishments were the worst kind of punishment in Ginny's opinion as they tended to be spell practice for the Slytherins and usually involved the Unforgivable curses.

Amycus ordered the Slytherins to practice the Cruciatus curse and said that at the end of their lesson, he would give a proper demonstration of the curse on a special guest. Soon they were paired off and Ginny was stuck with Crabbe. He surprisingly excelled at dark spells, so anyone stuck with him delivering their punishment was sure to feel the full effects of the curse.

"Still haven't learned your lesson, Weasley?" Crabbe taunted before casting the first Cruciatus that made Ginny fall to her knees.

"It still surprises me that someone as dumb as you managed to learn that spell so quickly, Crabbe." Ginny jeered back trying to throw him off in attempts to receive milder curses. "It really is amazing that you work so well with dark magic if you can't even pass the easiest subject. I heard you got a T on your charms O.W.L."

Sure enough, the next spell was slightly milder. Crabbe tended let insults affect his spell work. Ginny learned this fact about the Slytherin from Neville. She and Neville tried to gather as much information on what each Slytherin's weakness was in order to help out the younger students who landed in detention and had to suffer through rounds of spell practice. So far they knew that insults, taunts or feigning indifference to the spells would lower the Slytherin's ability and they would not have to endure such hard punishment.

After an hour of detention, Amycus called the room to order. The Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were tired and many sporting bruises. They, along with the Slytherins circled around the Carrows waiting for the next demonstration.

"If you all think that defying the Dark Lord's rule will not bring about any consequences, you are wrong," Amycus began while Alecto brought in a student from her brother's office, "You may still just be students here at Hogwarts but you must still follow his orders. Mr. Malfoy disobeyed the Dark Lord's direct orders last June and now you all get to see what happens to those who do not obey."

The Carrows took turns torturing Draco using all kinds of dark magic as well as the Cruciatus curse. They were ruthless and unrelenting until Draco finally begged them to stop.

"The Dark Lord wishes for all of you students to respect the rules of your new Headmaster. Let this be a lesson to any student who keeps disregarding school rules and keeps causing trouble," Alecto warned. "Now, go back to your dormitories."

Ginny lingered for a moment and noticed the look on Malfoy's face. His eyes showed the absolute pain he was in and Ginny didn't doubt that he was being punished this way on a regular basis. She held his gaze for a moment before looking away and exiting the room.

Neville and Luna were waiting for her outside. They waited until they were away from the DADA classroom before voicing their thoughts on tonight's events.

"Well, that was different. I guess even the mighty Slytherin isn't immune to punishment by the Carrows," Neville commented as the three made their way up the staircase towards their common rooms.

"It is cruel of them to punish him like that though. He could barely stand after all of their curses. Do you think it has anything to do with what happened at the Astronomy tower?" Luna wondered.

"Beats me. What do you think Gin?" Neville asked a distracted Ginny. She had barely been listening to the others conversation.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Listen, I'm really tired. Crabbe did a really good job with his wand work tonight. I'm going to go to bed early. Talk to you guys later." And with that she headed off to Gryffindor tower alone.

Later, as she was getting ready for bed, Ginny let her mind wander off to Malfoy again. She could not get the look on Malfoy's eyes out of her thoughts. Ginny did not know the full story of Malfoy's involvement in what happened at the Astronomy tower the night Dumbledore. Harry had said that he was supposed to have killed Dumbledore but Snape had taken care of that job himself. If the task was taken care of, she could not imagine why Malfoy was still being punished for this now. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep was the look of fear and pain on Malfoy's eyes.


	2. Malfoy's Story

One week later, Ginny sat next to Luna in DADA class as Amycus talked the proper way of conjuring _Fiendfyre_. Not that they would ever get some time to practice the spell as this kind of fire is very volatile and dangerous. This class was now mostly devoted to learning dark magic that was either impractical to try in class or reserved for detention practice. Only the Slytherins showed real interest in learning in this class. The other houses thought these spells were horrible especially since many of them would later be practiced on them in the much dreaded sessions of detention.

She had tried all week to avoid dwelling on the thoughts about Malfoy's punishment that still lingered in her mind. the more she thought about it the more she felt sorry for him and the more she was confused. She shouldn't be feeling sorry for Malfoy, not after all he's put his family through. Yet she kept thinking about last week and felt the need to know more about his situation. For now, she decided to put those thoughts to the back of her mind and try not to fall asleep in class. The last thing she needs is another detention from Amycus for sleeping in his class.

The class ended and Ginny and Luna walked together to the Great Hall for dinner grateful that today neither girl had received detention. They sat together at the Gryffindor table and soon Neville joined them.

"Hey Ginny, Luna, how was your day? Got detention today?" Neville asked. "I was lucky today, no detention for once."

"No, we didn't get detention today either. DADA was really boring today, mainly just Amycus droning on about a dark spell. Ginny and I were able to sit in the back and read the Quibbler," Luna told him in her usual dreamy voice.

Dinner went on and the three friends mainly chatted about the latest news on the war. It was becoming more and more usual to hear about families being killed or people going missing. Lots of those missing were muggle-born Hogwarts students who were not able to return to school because of having to register with the Ministry. There were rumors that the runaway students were being captured by groups known as '_Snatchers'_ and brought in to the Ministry in exchange for gold.

After dinner, Luna said she was going back to Ravenclaw tower, Ginny had some potions homework she needed to finish and Neville wanted to check on some plants he was helping Professor Sprout with, so the three friends parted ways.

Ginny made her way to the library and found the book she would need for her potions essay. Professor Slughorn had assigned them an 18 inch essay on the Invigoration Draught due the following day and she still needed about 6 inches. If she hurried finding the book she needed, she might be able to finish soon and go to sleep early.

The book was not hard to find and Ginny was able to finish her essay just as the library was closing. She packed her bag slowly which earned a glare from Madam Pince who was waiting on her to lock up. Ginny made her way through the dimly lit third floor corridor. As she neared the DADA classroom, she saw a person sitting with their back against the wall and their head against their knees. She approached the person and when they lifted their head, she saw that it was Malfoy.

He looked badly injured. He had a black eye and a bleeding lip. His clothes were torn and dirty and he seemed to be holding his left wrist as if it were broken. He looked up at her through his good but tired eye, and quickly cast his gaze down to the floor.

"Malfoy, what happened? Are you okay?" Ginny asked concerned for the state that he was in.

He replied quietly, "Does it look like I'm okay, Weasley? I was just in Detention." He realized that he had potentially just blown any chance of getting help from her but he could not resist being rude to a Weasley. She did look concerned though and maybe she would still agree to help him. "I really wish that I didn't have to ask you for help, but seeing as it's unlikely that anyone else will be out on this corridor this late at night, can you take me to the hospital wing?"

"And why should I help you after you were so rude to me when I just asked out of concern?"

"I don't think I can get there myself. Look, just take me and I'll give you anything you ask for."

"Fine I'll take you, but you will have to answer all of the questions I have for you."

The walk down to the hospital wing was slow and painful. Apart from the broken wrist, Malfoy might also have a few broken ribs so he needed lots of support from Ginny to be able to walk without doubling over in pain. When they finally did arrive, Madam Pomfrey quickly got to work on mending his broken bones. She didn't even have to ask where he got his injuries as she was aware of how detention worked and supposed that is what had happened.

Madam Pomfrey gave Malfoy a Dreamless Sleep Potion and asked Ginny to leave so he could get some rest.

* * *

The following day Ginny got up extra early so that she would have time to go visit Malfoy before classes started. She really wanted to know why he was being punished so much by the Carrows if they were all supposed to be on the same side. She practically ran to the hospital wing. She asked Madam Pomfrey if she could see Malfoy and was told he was still asleep but she could go right in. She approached the same bed she had helped him to last night and saw that he was starting to wake up.

Ginny wasted no time making him keep to his promise of answering her questions and asked, "So tell me, why are you being punished this much by the Carrows?"

"Weasley, I really don't want to talk about that," he replied groggily.

"You did promise that if I helped you to the hospital wing you would tell me why I had to bring you here in the first place." Ginny feared that he would not do good on his promise to answer her questions. She was really curious and so she decided to probe a little more. "Is it because of what happened in the Astronomy tower?"

"What do you know about what happened in the Astronomy tower?" He was caught off guard by her knowledge of the events of that night.

"I…I only know that you were supposed to kill Dumbledore but that Snape did it instead."

"Well, you're right. That's what happened and that's exactly why I am being punished."

"But if the task was done, I don't understand why you are still being punished." Now they were getting to what Ginny really wanted to know. Now that she knew his punishments by the Carrows were in connection to what happened at the end of last term, she wanted to know what exactly happened in that Astronomy tower.

"Weasley, do you really think that the Dark Lord cares about that? Of course not! He gave me the task to kill Dumbledore and I didn't do it so now he's ordered the Carrows to make me suffer the consequences for my weakness. Now I wish I would have accepted Dumbledore's offer." He said that last part so quietly that Ginny might have missed it if she were not listening very carefully to what he was telling her.

"What offer? What do you mean?"

"Dumbledore offered me to switch sides and he would find a way to hide me and my mother. If only I would have accepted his offer, my mother would not be suffering for my mistakes."

Malfoy's eyes filled with tears as he confessed this to Ginny. He felt it was his fault that his mother was stuck at home at the mercy of the Dark Lord and that if he defied him again, she may end up paying for it.

"You know, maybe it's not too late. You could still switch sides, join the Order." Ginny had no idea why she was saying this. Maybe it was because she felt bad for Malfoy and his mother's situation. She had no idea if the Order would even take him in but she could try to help. She felt useless to the war and hearing Malfoy's problems sparked the need to do something to help. Even if it was just helping Malfoy she would feel useful. The problem was that she didn't know what she could do for him.

"I don't think your precious Order would take me now. And if they did, I don't think they would be able to help my mother."

"Well, maybe the Order can't be of much help, but maybe I can. At least, maybe I can help _you_."

"Why would you even want to help me? I've been nothing but cruel to you and your brothers."

"I want to help you because I know what it's like to be in detention with the Carrows and I wouldn't wish it even on my worst enemy. And if I helped you, maybe you could help me."

As she said this she realized she knew of the perfect way to help him. No, not just him, all of the students tortured in detention. She knew of a way for them to stand up to the Carrows. Maybe in the beginning the punishments would be greater, but in the end they could put a stop to the horrible detentions.

"And how could I be of any help to you?"

"By helping me reform the DA."

* * *

Preview of next chapter:

"Neville, Luna we're reforming the DA," Ginny informed her friends as she joined her friends for lunch. She was not able to see them before and was just bursting to tell them.

"And why exactly are we doing that Ginny?" Neville asked.

"The DA was formed as a way to rebel against Umbridge, so now I think we need to bring it back as a way to rebel against the Carrows"

* * *

Let me know what you think.

-Ale


	3. The Reformation of the DA

Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. As always I own nothing but perhaps the plot.

* * *

"The DA?" Malfoy asked incredulously. "You mean Potters' little group during 5th year? And how exactly is that going to help against the Carrows?"

"It could work as…as a form of rebellion," Ginny said planning as she spoke. She had not thought of what she had to offer Malfoy yet as the plan to bring back the DA was a spur of the moment thing. Yet as she went along, the plan seemed to fall right into place. The DA was the perfect way to get Malfoy to switch sides, which would benefit him and those constantly in detention. How, she wasn't sure yet. "Not only that though, it could also help prepare the students against the spells they cast on us during detention…or something."

"Or something? I don't know how I feel about this crazy idea of yours Weasley. I'm in enough trouble with them as it is in case you hadn't noticed."

"That's why it's going to be kept a secret. And we need you as much as you need us."

"How is it that I need you?"

How indeed? Ginny walked across the room and stared out the window as if the answer to his question were somewhere outside.

"We can help you think of a way to get the Carrows to lay off on the harsh punishments." Could they? Ginny wasn't sure. She was having a hard time being very convincing. "I don't know," she hesitated, "Well at least maybe we can help you when you are punished."

Malfoy saw that Weasley was trying really hard to find a way to convince him to join them. She was really trying to find something that he needed in exchange for something he had. But what did he have? "Okay, say that you can help me, how would I be of help to you?"

That was easier for her to answer. He was known to be really smart and resourceful. And he had lots of information from having had contact with the Death Eaters. That's definitely something that could benefit the Order.

With that last thought the plan fully came into place. She had told him that maybe the Order could help with his mother. And if he proved he was trustworthy by joining the DA and helping students who were friendly with Order members, then the Order might be willing to help.

"You can help us learn spells to use against them. And you can help us by faking the spells if they force you to give out the punishments. Look I know that you don't have much influence in your house anymore and you were left basically friendless, so maybe that's where the DA can help you. Give you some alliances. They may not be people you like but if you switch to our side then maybe the members of the Order will trust you and help you get your mother back."

Ginny really hoped that she wasn't just making empty promises. The members of the Order were only able to do so much. But she was sure they would do everything in their power to help someone in need. He just had to prove himself.

"Rest now and please think about it. I'll come back during dinner to see if you've changed your mind."

* * *

All throughout classes Ginny thought about her proposal to Malfoy. Would he accept? But more importantly, would the members of the DA even let him join. Of course they would, she was the one reforming the group after all. Well they could still choose not to join once they heard about Malfoy's involvement. Ginny had to find a way to convince them to let him join. Make them see that he could be an asset to the group. His loyalty to his former master was broken and it was best to have him switch sides now that he was vulnerable.

That's what she would use to convince the lot. Having someone who was once so close to you-know-who was beneficial. They could use that to their advantage. And it's not like they would just use Malfoy. He would benefit too, if the Order agrees to help him of course.

Getting this plan to work might just prove to be a challenge. Ginny was willing to make it work though. She has to be useful to the Order somehow.

If truth be told, Ginny was excited for her plan to work. Having to go back to school made her feel useless. She felt trapped within the castle. She was not able to go out there and help with the war. Reforming the DA would be her contribution. She would help from within the school by preparing her classmates in case they are ever needed. And if it all works out she may also get the Order valuable information from her most important ally.

Ginny knows she can't do it alone. She needs help getting the group started. And she knows the perfect duo she can enlist to help.

* * *

"Neville, Luna we're reforming the DA, "Ginny informed her friends as she joined them for lunch. She was not able to see them before and was just bursting to tell them.

"And why exactly are we doing that Ginny?" Neville asked putting down his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"The DA was formed as a way to rebel against Umbridge, so now I think we need to bring it back as a way to rebel against the Carrows."

"That's crazy! Do you know what would happen if the Carrows find out? We'd get detention for life!"

"That's why we have to be super careful not to get caught. Neville think about it. The DA was formed to help students prepare for the war. Well guess what, the wizarding world _is_ at war. And here in the castle we're facing a war of our own against the Carrows. We have to be able to defend ourselves."

"I know what you mean, Gin. I just don't want any of the others suffer more at the hands of those Death Eaters."

"Well then help me. I can't do it alone. And I really believe that the DA will be able to do some good, for the students and maybe even for the Order."

"I'm in," said Luna. She didn't need any more convincing. The DA became a very important part of her life the first time around. It was the first time she had any real friends and she was not about to pass up the opportunity to feel that again.

"Wait, hold on. There's one more little detail," Ginny was nervous about telling them about Malfoy. She wasn't sure how they would take it. "I'm trying to get Malfoy to join," she said in a low and timid voice.

"_WHAT_?!" exclaimed both Neville and Luna at the same time.

"I said…"

"We heard what you said Ginnny. I just can't believe that's what you actually said. What do you mean you are trying to get Malfoy to join the DA?"

Ginny told them about her encounter with Malfoy and how she helped him to the hospital wing. She quickly told them what he told her about why he was being punished and about her offer to help him switch sides.

"Don't you see, he can help us just as much as we can help him. He knows a lot about the Death Eaters and their plans. We might be able to convince him to tell us."

"You do have a point Ginnny, but come on. It's Malfoy we're talking about. He's never been pleasant with anyone who was in the DA before. Who's to say he won't be his usual hateful self?"

"Because he'll be outnumbered by us. And because if he really needs our help he will have to play by our rules. We have the upper hand here."

She was really having trouble being very convincing today. Maybe it was because she was working with half planned ideas. She needed help to reform the group though so she was counting on her friend's support and understanding of the situation.

"Ginny I support whatever decision you make. I believe in the DA's mission and if you think that having Malfoy join us can help, then I'm with you."

Good ol' reliable Luna. She was always easier to convince of any of her harebrained ideas. Luna's support was bound to get Neville to agree.

Luna fully trusted Ginny. She was the first person she befriended and they had stuck together through thick and thin.

"I believe that the DA is what we need. Okay Gin, do what you think is best. I'm with you. I just worry about bringing Malfoy in."

Ginny beamed. She had gotten her friends to agree. Well for now at least. She was going to make sure that their trust in her would not be broken.

"Don't worry about that. I'll make sure that he's fully on our side before trusting him."

* * *

"So, what have you decided?"

He had thought long and hard about it after she left in the morning. He was after all, stuck in bed in the hospital wing still recovering from last night's brutal beating.

He was all alone now. The Dark Lord was furious with him for his failure this year and he was still not pleased with his father for his failure the year before that. His mother was in danger being stuck at the Manor with the Dark Lord and he was willing to do anything to keep her safe. He was even willing to ally with his former enemies if that meant that he would be able to bring her to safety.

"Right to the point, eh? Okay Weasley, I'll join your precious DA, on the one condition that you get the Order to help me get my mother to safety."

"Well then I hereby welcome you to the DA on two conditions. Number one, you treat all members of the DA with respect and number two, that you are willing to give up any information that will help the Order."


	4. Planning

Sorry for the super long wait and the short chapter. I had to really think of where this story was going but now that I have some ideas I am ready to continue. It's kind of a filler chapter but much needed to move things along.

* * *

"Oh so there are _conditions_ for me to join," he said skeptically. "If I very well recall, Weasley, you're trying to get me to agree, not to convince me otherwise. And right now, you are not really convincing me."

"Look, if it were up to me you'd be in, no questions asked. But there are other members of the DA that will not take it kindly if you are rude to them," she said and he scoffed. "You have to be willing to cooperate with us so that we can help you."

"Fine, fine, I agree to your conditions," he said. When's the first meeting?

"Well, I'm still working on that. I still have to put word out that we're reforming, find a place, set up meeting times…" Ginny drifted off. She still had lots to plan and Draco noticed her lack of preparedness.

"You mean to say you haven't done that yet?" he asked a little too enthusiastically that it hurt his injured ribs.

"Well, no," she said as she helped him lay back down. "My first priority was for you to agree and to get Luna and Neville on board."

"So Lovegood and Longbottom are going to help you lead this thing?" he asked quietly, mostly just thinking out loud.

"Yeah," she said defensively. "Will that be a problem?"

"No, I guess not. This is your little group after all."

"Then I will get back to you when I have the final details. When do you get out of here?"

"Madam Pomfrey says I can leave in the morning. Though, I might still be hurting for another few days."

"We're going to have to work out a way of communicating without arousing suspicion from the Slytherins. They may not take well if they see us talking or if you somehow have the same means of communication as the rest of the DA."

Draco thought about it and immediately knew how he could communicate with the redhead. "Meet me tomorrow in the owlry during lunch. I have something that might work."

* * *

After her visit to Malfoy, Ginny headed back to the library. She had lots to plan and knew she would find Luna and Neville there. They were sitting at a table in the back working on homework but as soon as she approached they stopped what they were doing.

"How'd it go with Malfoy, Gin?" Neville asked.

"He's in," Luna smiled and Neville groaned, but Ginny continued, "And he's agreed to play nice."

"Good to hear, but let's see if he actually can," Neville said crossing his arms.

Ginny ignored her friend's sour mood. "So I was thinking we get to planning. We need to think of a place…"

"I thought we were going to keep meeting in the Room of Requirement?" Luna asked dreamily while she played with her radish earrings.

"Don't you think that will be a little too obvious? People already know that's where we used to meet. What if we get caught again?"

"That's exactly why it's the perfect location," Neville supplied. "Nobody would think that we'd be stupid enough to use the same place. Besides, there are not a lot of places where we could fit that many people. If in fact we do have the same turnout as last time." He said this last part hopefully. The DA was very important to him because not only had he improved a lot in his spellwork, he had also proved those who doubted him wrong and made new friends.

"Fine, let's plan to meet there. What should we do to advertise?"

"I think it's going to have to be word of mouth. Pass on the rumor in between classes and away from the ears of the Carrows and the Slytherins. We need to let them know we're restarting the DA and to check their coins if they still have them," Luna said.

"We're going to have to learn the spell Hermione used to switch the dates and how to make more if we need them."

"I can do some research if you would like Ginny. Hermione must have learned how to do that using a book. The Protean Charm, wasn't it?" Luna said excitedly. Ginny was glad that Luna would help her with the research because together, they would be able to figure it out.

"Yeah, that's what she used."

"Now that we have where and how, we need to decide when," Neville said to the girls. "How much time do we need to prepare and have the first meeting?"

"I say one week. Maybe we can meet every Wednesday night."

"Sure let's try for that," they all agreed.

* * *

The next day Draco left the hospital wing after Madam Pomfrey gave him one last check up and gave him some more pain potion for later. Breakfast was ending soon but he managed to make it in time to grab a muffin before heading to class. He made sure to sit in the back of the Charms classroom so no one would notice he was there.

After class he made a quick trip to his dormitory to retrieve his special parchment. The day before when Weasley mentioned the need to communicate secretly he knew this parchment would come in handy. He bought it long ago somewhere in Knockturn alley but had not had the chance to use it. The parchment comes in two pieces and when you write a message on one, it transfers to the other piece. This is what he planned to give Weasley so they can communicate.

During lunch he made his way up to the owlry to wait for Weasley. He pretended to be sending a letter so the few students that were there without any business in the owlry would leave. Once he was alone he sat and waited. It wasn't long before Ginny arrived.

"So, what do you have that will help us communicate?" she asked as soon as she arrived.

"Weasley, as always right to the point," he said taking out the parchment. "These two pieces of parchment are linked and whatever message I want to send you, I just have but to write it down on mine and it will appear on yours."

Ginny took the parchment hesitantly, "I don't know how I feel about this parchment."

"Why so hesitant? It's the best way I can think of. Do you have any other suggestions?" he said exasperated with her attitude.

Ginny's past experience with Riddle's diary made her weary of the parchment. It reminded her too much of the diary. Malfoy was right though, this was the best way to communicate discretely. She would just have to be very careful with what she wrote in it.

"Are you the only one who can read this?"

"Yes, it has a charm that allows only the person in possession of it to read it," he assured her.

"Fine," she said as she put the parchment in her bag. "We're planning to meet in a week, I'll send you the rest of the details through the parchment," and with that said she left.

Draco sighed and waited a while before leaving too.


	5. Malfoy's Magical Parchment

Ginny and Luna spent all of their free time looking up the Protean charm. They wanted to finish the final preparations for the DA and wasted no time going to the library to do their research. The Protean charm was not highly advanced magic so it only took them about one hour before they found the book they were looking for.

"Ginny, here it is. Instructions on the Protean charm," Luna said excitedly.

"Here," Ginny said as she took the book from Luna, "Let me see."

Both girls read the description for the charm and Luna looked for some parchment in her bag to copy down what they found. She couldn't find any in her bag so she went to take some from Ginny's bag. Ginny noticed what parchment Luna was about to use and shouted, "Wait!"

Luna looked at Ginny with a curious look but before Ginny could explain, Madame Pince walked over to them and asked them to be quiet. Ginny apologized and decided they would be best to finish up their work elsewhere. The girls grabbed their things and took the book with them. Madam Pince was reluctant to let them take it as they had been awfully loud in the library but in the end she gave in and let them take it.

Once they were outside in the courtyard, Ginny took some regular parchment and began to copy down the information on the Protean charm. She could tell Luna was anxious to know what her little scene at the library had been all about. Luna was just too nice and Ginny knew she would patiently wait until Ginny decided to tell her what was going on.

As she worked, Ginny thought about telling Luna about Malfoy's parchment. She decided she needed someone else to know just in case something happened to her.

"Luna?" Ginny said, putting her quill down.

"Yes Ginny? Are you ready to tell me what that was back there? You seemed frightened that I would write in your parchment."

"Yes, you see Malfoy gave me that parchment."

"Malfoy?" she asked.

"It's so we can keep in contact about the DA. You're supposed to write in it and the person who has the other piece in the set will receive the message."

"Oh, now I see. I'm sorry, I should have asked before I just grabbed your things."

"It's okay. I was just worried that Malfoy would get the information we were about to write down. Luna, please don't tell Neville about the parchment, please?"

Luna sighed but understood why Ginny didn't want Neville knowing about the parchment. He would worry if he knew there was a way for Gin and Malfoy to be sending secret messages.

"I won't."

* * *

That night Ginny was kept awake with thoughts about Malfoy's parchment. It must have been a moment of insanity on her part when she agreed to use it as a means of communication with Malfoy. Had she not learned anything from her experience with Riddle's diary?

At around 3 in the morning Ginny had enough of not being able to sleep and headed down to the common room. She grabbed the parchment out of her bag and set it down at the table while she looked for a quill and some ink. She had to get rid of the foreboding feelings she had towards it before her brain exploded.

This parchment was meant to only be read by Malfoy and he couldn't possibly possess her through it, right? She wasn't sure but she would test it out. She would write something short and then talk to Malfoy about it later. If he was fully aware of what they conversed though it, it would mean it was doing only what it was intended for. Ginny knew her logic might be flawed but it kept her resolve from wavering.

The more she thought about it the easier it would be for her to chicken out and ask Malfoy for a different way to communicate. She was about to give up and go to sleep when she decided to just face her fear and wrote a single word on the dreaded parchment.

"Git."

She watched as the word vanished ever so slowly into the parchment. She held her breath waiting for something to happen but after a minute of looking at it she decided nothing would happen. Well not until Malfoy looked at it and saw what she wrote.

She was berating herself for her choice of word when she saw a steady flow of ink materialize on the parchment.

"Not surprising that your first attempt at communication is an insult, Weasley."

Getting a response this late, or perhaps she should say early, startled her. She did not expect Malfoy to be awake, much less for him to actually respond.

"You're awake?"

"So it seems. I don't sleep much. And it seems like you don't either."

"I usually do," she wrote before quickly adding, "Your parchment kept me up tonight."

"How so?"

"I..." should she tell him why? That would require her telling him a part of her past she was not ready to share.

A big question mark appeared on the parchment. He was waiting for an answer. She would just have to tell him enough to keep him from probing any further.

"I had a bad experience with a parchment similar to this a few years back."

It took him a while to respond, "Look if the parchment makes you that uncomfortable, we can find a different form of communication."

"It's fine..." she let that vanish before adding, "but let's talk about what we talk about on here in person. I need to make sure that our conversations are real. And that it's really only you who gets these messages and that they will only be DA related."

"And may I ask why the strange request?"

"No." Before he could question why she added, "maybe I will tell you about why later."

"Fine. Good night Weasley," was the last message she received to which she simply wrote, "Good night."

* * *

Ginny managed to get a few hours of sleep before she had to be up for classes. She decided to sleep through most of breakfast and only gave herself enough time to go down to the great hall and grab a muffin. By the time she got there the great hall was mostly empty. On her way out she bumped into Malfoy.

He quietly said, "Our conversations are real," and left.

* * *

AN I hope I am not being too confusing about Ginny's fears about the parchment or anything else in this chapter. If I am let me know and I will do my best to correct this. Coming soon is their first DA meeting (finally!).


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